As soon as Logan released the spores and let the mold do its own thing, he was worried it would be too slow acting. Mold wasn’t speedy.
But even as he put on another burst of speed to outpace the charging tiger, he kept his senses open. Normally, keeping [Life Cycle Master] active was a strain, since there were so many spots of life in the environment that monitoring them at the same time would have given him more than a migraine, it would have likely burst a blood vessel. Not here. This trial was artificial and void of life. It was laughable how easy it was to sense the tiger.
And the mold spores were busy, busy bees.
Replicating, launching spores, one after another, they multiplied faster than the green beans. As each grew, the others pushed it along in an assembly line, injecting them into the blue light inside the thing’s skull. If Logan’s suspicions were correct, that had to be the tiger’s ‘brain’ or power source. Logan was in no way a computer expert, but even he knew that electronics and organic material—especially liquid organic material—didn’t mix.
Soon, they were replicating so many times that the tiger started to drip black mold from its eyes and mouth, and then it started to pour.
But even with all of that, it was still alive. Instead, it was as if it were drunk. Putting on bursts of speed and almost catching Logan, then staggering and skidding, its front paws scrambling to get a purchase. It shook its head as if it were trying to get water out of its ear, before steadying itself and exploding with another burst of speed.
Logan grinned.
He’d just given the thing a virus.
It was even better than he’d imagined. If it continued in this drunken dance, he could keep this up indefinitely. Better yet, he hadn’t technically ‘defeated’ the tiger in the true sense, so he could get through this trial without having to worry about the System replicating the monster the same way it had done to the cannon balls.
Ding!
[You have earned one endurance point!]
[Trial Update:
Asthea: 6 Endurance
Arsen: 6 Endurance
Logan: 5 Endurance
Errol: Disqualified
Thorin: Disqualified]
[Undead Stamina] meant that he should be able to outlast Asthea and Arsen, and then coast to a victory.
Logan hesitated.
That was the smart play. He knew he could win.
But, at the same time, it rang hollow. Why should he let Arsen advance and boost his endurance when the man had gloated that he was using Logan as bait? By letting the tiger stumble around in a drunken haze, Logan should be able to coast through to a victory, but it would also let the very man who had taunted him have an advantage.
Logan would never begrudge someone from wanting to succeed, but in this, he’d reached his limit. A bitterness was festering inside his stomach, an urge that said, for once, he could be selfish. After all, if Arsen ‘died,’ he’d come back. It wouldn’t have real-world consequences. And it wouldn’t be as if Logan were killing him himself. Just like him, he could come up with a solution, something outside of the box to overcome his predicament.
Asthea was a different story. She’d been nothing but welcoming and generous. Without her, he never would have received the Save Humanity Quest. Logan was betting that she had gone along with this ‘bait’ strategy at Arsen’s urging, and even if she had gone along willingly, Logan could give her some allowances.
This was a real moral conundrum, and it had a razor’s edge of success. Could Logan capitalize on the situation, take away any possibility of Arsen leaching off his strategy, and still avoid hurting Asthea?
And… there was one other factor that he’d be stupid to discount. Logan couldn’t throw anything alive inside his spatial collar, which meant that even though he’d technically defeated the tiger, he would have to exit this trial without taking advantage.
He wanted that tiger.
To get it, that meant he would have to kill it. The mold could stick around—it was mold, and there had to be mold, bacteria, and who knew what else on the other items he’d thrown inside his collar. No, he needed to turn off the thing’s brain, so the System deemed it ‘dead’. It would take finagling—and more communing with the mold to turn it back on once he removed it from his spatial collar—but it was possible.
Through his heavy breathing, Logan couldn’t hold back a giddy laugh.
Hell yeah. Oozing mold tiger guard dog, here we come.
Logan let his pace drop so the tiger could catch up. It was so dizzy with mold overload that it didn’t see him as he came up on its side. Logan imagined it would be like trying to sprint while you were suffering from the flu, mucus flying, head full of cotton. It was laboring, its long mold tongue oozing a torrent of black tar.
This would be the tricky part. He didn’t want to damage it too badly—after all, eventually, he wanted to turn it on again. But the mold overload wasn’t enough to cut the cord. That would take a physical hit. He didn’t want to damage the thing’s limbs, and that wouldn’t kill it anyway. He needed to hit its life source.
On the side of the tiger’s head, there was a slit, like an ear canal. Amongst the seeping black mold, it radiated blue light. The metal frame was lighter there, more delicate. Logan had a hunch about this, but it was only a hunch.
The last time he’d tested his strength, it had been on the beach with the canoe. Logan had been able to lift the canoe with one hand.
That was before.
He glanced down at his hands, cracking his knuckles, hitting one fist into the palm of his other hand. If he was right about this, he had a weapon—his own body. If he could lift a canoe with 29 strength attributes, what could he do with 172?
Ding!
[You have earned one endurance point!]
[Trial Update:
Asthea: 7 Endurance
Arsen: 7 Endurance
Logan: 6 Endurance
Errol: Disqualified
Thorin: Disqualified]
“Can’t be long now until it overtakes him,” grunted Arsen from up ahead, his ears twitching. “That off-worlder is no match for the tiger; it’ll slash him to pieces and kill him!”
“But what happens then?” Asthea panted.
“Just keep concentrating on your steps, keep your breathing steady, try to tune out everything but putting one step in front of another. We need to make sure we stay far enough ahead so the tiger continues focusing on him; it’ll only turn to us once he’s mush on the ground. Once that happens, I’ll concede, you inch out a win, and then we’ll end the trial.”
Logan’s mouth turned into a flat line.
If Ernie had been with him, swinging his tentacles and raving about slaughter as they struggled through this trial, Logan wouldn’t be conspiring with him to use the others as bait. It was a matter of sportsmanship and decency. It was possible that Logan was judging another species against human principles, but then again, there were despicable people on his world as well.
Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
Drilling a hole into the back of Arsen’s head with his gaze, Logan didn’t waste any time. With a massive swing, using every ounce of strength at his disposal, he slammed his fist into the side of the tiger’s head. He was bracing for pain—he was hitting a metal skull, a skull made from material that radiated an aura that was off the charts—but he wasn’t expecting what happened.
Holy hell.
The tiger went flying, eight-hundred pounds of metal and leaking mold slamming into the ground like he’d thrown a jet engine at the thing! He’d wanted to ‘kill’ the monster, but he hadn’t thought he’d do that much damage!
Gaping, Logan stared down at his fists. Time seemed to have slowed down to a crawl, the scene replaying in his mind over and over again.
He suspected he knew why it had been such a massive hit.
Strength was one thing, but when you had agility so high that your fist became a blur, the two attributes worked together, turning Logan’s fist into a battering ram. In this trial, he knew the System pitted you against monsters that were equal or higher leveled than your own—the chains were evidence of that. Each time he’d earned a strength bonus, the chains had adjusted, the wheel pulling harder. That meant the tiger was stronger than both Logan’s and Arsen’s levels—a powerhouse with an aura to match.
But Logan had damaged it.
Its high agility had been nullified with the mold overload, its quick reaction time out the window. Logan may as well have hit a stationary target.
And it hadn’t gotten up. Was it ‘dead’? It was too bad killing monsters inside the trial didn’t seem to award XP.
With a surge of excitement, Logan willed it inside his spatial collar. He held his breath and waited for an error message.
No error messages. It was inside his spatial storage.
Hell yeah, Logan was the owner of a badass tiger guard dog.
But just like in the agility trial, killing a construct had consequences. In front of Asthea and Arsen, the ground exploded, sand flying as two more Oozing Mold Tiger Mechas clawed their way to the surface. Asthea shrieked as she leaped over one sinkhole, barely avoiding tripping over one of the tiger’s metal arms.
“Why are there more? Two! Arsen, what’s going on?”
Arsen slowed while he glanced back at the emerging tigers, his face beet-red, his hair soaked with sweat. He studied the tigers before staring at Logan.
Logan gave him a shit-eating grin.
Arsen’s eyes widened. “You killed the tiger?” he said, a vein on his forehead standing out. “The System’s name for you fits! Idiot! Now you’ll have to deal with two rather than one!”
Logan disregarded Arsen and then gave the two tigers an assessing glance as he passed them. They were shaking off sand and clawing the ground, grinning with their dripping mold tongues and barking in excitement. Instead of duplicating the original, the System had made these two larger. There had to be a good additional one hundred pounds on their frames.
Damn, Logan was tempted. So tempted. What was better than a tiger guard dog? Three tiger guard dogs! Still, if he communed with the mold again and then whacked these ones to death like the other one, then they’d have four tigers to contend with. Even Logan wasn’t sure his plan would hold up if he had to deal with so many.
This was the tricky part. He had suspicions, but it was just that—conjecture. But if he could do anything he put his mind to in this new world, there was an area he’d overlooked.
It would make sense that someone like Arsen could outrun and outpace Logan. By his calculations, by leveling up 89 times, he’d received 445 attribute points. To be generous, Logan gave him an extra 50 attributes to account for the base attributes everyone received when they became a leveled being. So, let’s say 495. There were five physical attributes, but there was also intelligence, wisdom, and constitution. In total, he’d divide by eight.
Logan furrowed his brow as he concentrated. That would leave… about 62 points for each attribute. That was strictly if Arsen had distributed his attribute points evenly, and he knew that wasn’t the case. Arsen’s highest attribute was strength, so he’d have to account for a lopsidedness. The other factor was outside parameters, external variables such as earned titles or hidden multipliers. Logan knew the other guards had participated in this trial before. If the System awarded the same rings to everyone who won each trial, there was a possibility that his numbers were off.
Yet, even with external factors, when he did the math, it gave him a massive confidence boost. Logan was level 34, but after this trial, his strength was at 187 and his agility was at 234. The last time he’d ran full out—truly ran, was back at the cabin when he’d received his daily endurance boost. Logan had been speedy then, but he hadn’t been trying for speed. He didn’t know what he was capable of now.
It was time to find out.
With his next running leap, he dug his back foot into the ground, braced himself, and then accelerated, his thigh muscles cording with tension, his arms powering with large swings. He kept his head up, his chest out, and then let his massive strength and agility attributes go to work. Logan’s chest moved like a racehorse, his muscles on fire as he let himself go.
He passed the two tigers, one taking a swipe at him with a large metal paw as he darted around it, then started gaining on Arsen and Asthea, their backs getting closer until he was feet away.
Arsen turned his head, saw Logan coming after him like a train, and blanched. “We need to go faster!” he said to Asthea with a cough.
“But…”
They didn’t have a chance. Logan powered past them, his feet moving like they were on fire. Logan wasn’t just Iron Man, he was the Flash.
Ding!
[You have earned one endurance point!]
[You have earned one endurance point!]
[Trial Update:
Logan: 9 Endurance
Asthea: 8 Endurance
Arsen: 8 Endurance
Errol: Disqualified
Thorin: Disqualified]
He was grinning from ear to ear, flush with success. It had worked! Even better, [Undead Stamina] was paying dividends. He continued the same pace and so far, had no signs of fatigue. Logan was going so fast that forget the canoe, he could run along the shore like a superhero and get to Hope’s End in half the time.
Ding!
[You have earned one endurance point!]
[Trial Update:
Logan: 10 Endurance
Asthea: 8 Endurance
Arsen: 8 Endurance
Errol: Disqualified
Thorin: Disqualified]
Each time he earned an endurance point, he received an extra boost, his endurance attribute replenishing, [Undead Stamina] acting as a multiplier. It was an endless cycle: he wore himself out running, he received a reward that let him wear himself out yet again.
“You need to go faster, Asthea,” said Arsen. “If you don’t, he’ll get so far ahead of us that we’ll never catch up. That means the tigers will target us while he gets away.”
“I’m trying! But my legs are killing me!”
Arsen grunted. “Dig deep, girl.”
Arsen was higher leveled and could go faster, but he didn’t want to leave Asthea behind, which meant they would both be in reach of the tigers soon.
Reducing his speed, Logan turned around and jogged backwards, facing them. “Asthea, concede.”
Her eyes widened and she gave him an incredulous look. “What?”
“I’m not going to stop, and I don’t want to see you get hurt.”
Arsen snarled. “He’s playing mind games with you! He won’t be able to keep up this pace. Keep going, girl!”
Logan sighed and turned back around, quickly increasing his pace once again. Well, it’s not like he hadn’t warned her.
Digging deep, Logan let his feet surge, dust kicking up behind him.
Ding!
[You have earned one endurance point!]
[…]
[You have earned one endurance point!]
[Trial Update:
Logan: 16 Endurance
Asthea: 9 Endurance
Arsen: 9 Endurance
Errol: Disqualified
Thorin: Disqualified]
After another ten minutes, Logan glanced back. They were so far behind he could hardly make out their expressions. Reluctantly, he reduced his speed, transitioning into a jog to give them a chance to move closer. He needed to know what was happening—if he left them behind, he’d never know if they’d conceded or if the tigers had savaged them.
“Oh, the clan!”
Logan turned around and ran backwards, keeping pace. Oh shit. Asthea was shrieking as one of the tigers slashed her back with a swipe of its ten-inch-long talons, cutting her armour like paper. Putting on an extra burst of speed, she tried to dart away, but the damage had already been done. She hadn’t fallen, she was still running, but her face was a mask of pain. Logan couldn’t see her injury, but it had to be bad for that much blood to be dripping down her leg.
The monster’s talons weren’t just dripping with her blood, it was dripping with the insidious mold. It had effectively ended her trial, since unless her constitution attribute fought off the infection, it would eventually make her sluggish until she couldn’t run, and then—paralyze her.
Logan raised his voice. “Make the smart move. Drop out of the trial.”
Arsen panted through his running, glaring at him and spitting, “No.”
“Asthea’s infected. That oozing mold is a paralytic. She won’t be able to run soon, and then it’ll really kill her. But if she concedes, she might be able to fight off the infection in time for the dexterity trial.”
Arsen looked indignant but Asthea seemed torn. “It’s the smart decision,” she said, her ponytail bouncing behind her.
As Arsen leaped over a large boulder, he spat a glob of saliva to the side, his eyes full of held-back rage. Strands of long hair had fallen out of his bun and flew into his face. He brushed them away with a scowl. “If you’re dropping out, then I am too.”
“No, you can’t! I’m—” All at once, her face contorted, and her legs turned to jelly. She staggered, tripping over her own feet and then crashed to the ground face first.
“Asthea!” said Arsen as he skidded to a stop.
But his momentum meant that he’d outpaced her by a good thirty feet before he’d realized the problem. Now, he was too far away to reach her.
The tigers weren’t.
They surrounded her, muzzles gaping wide, tongues dripping black mold as their eyes glinted with malevolence. Barking in excitement, they clawed the ground, ripping up brown grass, both getting ready to spring onto their target.
Asthea crawled backwards, her lips trembling, the tendons on her neck standing out in fear. The blood from her back injury soaked the ground, turning the sand slick and slippery.
Oh fuck! “Concede!” shouted Logan.
“I…”
The tigers leaped towards her with their talons outflung, their mouths gaping open with razor-sharp teeth.